


Comfort and Amenities

by Grimalkin



Series: I got my DNA rewritten at SEP and all I got was decades of gay chicken and this blown up Watchpoint [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: But everything works out in the end, Crushes, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gabe has trust issues, Gen, Gift Giving, Headcanon, Jack gives himself anxiety, Kinda, Mutual Pining, Pre-Omnic Crisis, Soldier Enhancement Program Era, They're both chicken, how did a one off joke i made on discord become a 7k word fic, i don't really get into how this is set up but whatever, they're sort of out of the frying pan into the fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 22:13:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9848558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimalkin/pseuds/Grimalkin
Summary: Today was 2nd Lieutenant Gabriel Reyes’ 25th Birthday. Which was, incidentally, the first birthday he had since his graduation from the Soldier Enhancement Program, and the first birthday that Jack Morrison had the opportunity to get him a present for.In true Jack Morrison form, he jumped the shark. Several sharks, actually, of a great degree of diversity, from a nurse shark to great white and everything in-between.





	

**Author's Note:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsoLYWTzqSY
> 
> Edit: Alright, I wrote this before we got confirmation that Jack joined SEP as a result of the Omnic crisis. I wrote i here like after graduation from SEP the omnic crisis was just starting up and would soon after this spiral out of control. Maybe someday I'll do a light rewrite of this to bring it in line with the lore, but probably not. Everything else written in this series will be working under the new canon info.

Today was 2nd Lieutenant Gabriel Reyes’ 25th Birthday. Which was, incidentally, the first birthday he had since his graduation from the Soldier Enhancement Program, and the first birthday that Jack Morrison had the opportunity to get him a present for.

In true Jack Morrison form, he jumped the shark. Several sharks, actually, of a great degree of diversity, from a nurse shark to great white and everything in-between.

Jack took in a deep, steadying breath. Staring down at the door to Gabe’s private quarters had never before felt so daunting. Not even when they had pulled the small handful of SEP graduates into their new shared living quarters and he had knocked on it for the first time. The first time wasn’t even difficult, as much as it was weird to see Gabe’s full name and rank on a small golden plaque than hung on the door. While rank held no Quarter in the SEP, Gabe had actually completed the education requirement for officer status during his time in the program, and was promoted almost immediately upon graduation. 

Truth be told, Jack could feel a little guilty about the private quarters they got to stay in between missions. He himself was just a Sergeant, another recent promotion, but the living quarters for all of the SEP graduates were extremely lavish by the army’s standards. He supposed that the higher ups must have thought it would make a good reward for the graduating class of their program. Would certainly explain the large number of still-vacant apartments. The thought of another group of soldiers going through what they had made his stomach churn.

Jack realized he was spacing out at Gabe’s door. Stalling for time, really. If Gabe knew he was out here, he’d have been called out for sure. Gabe  _ hated _ how he stalled for time when he was nervous.

He felt in his pocket for his backup present for what must have been the third time since he arrived at Gabe’s door. A gift card to some burger joint he remembered Gabe saying he liked in passing once. At least that way if gabe though his actual gift was weird he could play it off as a joke.

(He absolutely couldn’t play it off as a joke.)

He knocked on the door, and fidgeted in place, waiting. He just needed to calm down. It was  _ Gabe  _ after all, it’s not like he could criticize Jack for trying to follow the man’s almost comically grim preferences. What’s the worst that could happen? Aside from his stunt giving away the crush he’d been nursing on his best friend for a very long time now.

Jack thought about that for a moment, and came to the conclusion that he was, absolutely, unquestionably, boned. Then the door opened.

Gabe always dressed sloppy when he wasn’t on duty. The man had a thing for hoodies and sometimes even wore the hood up indoors, much like he was right now. The older man’s face twitched as his eyes fell on Jack, however, and he pulled the hood down. On anyone else, that twitch would have been a small smile, but between the beard, and gabe’s personal struggle with a case of resting bitch face, it would have been difficult if not impossible for anyone other than Jack to tell.

“There he is,” Jack grinned, giving the other man a light shove on the shoulder. “Birthday boy.”

Gabe snorted, rolling the shoulder Jack had pushed, shaking his head, but stopping himself short of a laugh, eyebrows knitting together. 

“Your Grandma doing better?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Oh yeah!” Jack said just a split second too fast, and Gabe raised an eyebrow at him, dubious. Jack held his hands up towards the other. “Seriously, it’s like she never got sick at all by the time I got there. I’m pretty sure my aunt just wants to  _ think _ she was dying so she can get her house.”

His grandma had actually been totally fine when he arrive home two days ago, but that was mostly to do with the fact that she had never been sick in the first place. He just needed an excuse to go home alone that Gabe wouldn’t question. It didn’t quite sit right with him, lying to Gabe when he knew that he had some trust issues, but he wanted his gift to be a surprise, and there was no way in hell he could do that in the SEP grad quarters. Far too noisy, and way too many people to keep a secret.

Gabe’s expression cleared. “You mean the one who thinks she’s god’s gift to corn country?”

Jack rolled his eyes, ignoring the small pit of guilt boiling in his gut. “Who else?”

Thankfully, Gabe seemed to accept that answer with a shrug. “Dunno. Your family is so huge, another one could have just shown up.”

“It’s not like they grow on trees, Gabe.”

“Yeah, cause they grow on corn plants.” Gabe gave him a small, yet unmistakably smug grin, and retreated back into his apartment in silent invitation.

Jack lingered at the doorway, glancing down the hall. His present was in his room still. He didn’t quite have the gall to personally bring it down the hallway when he was already starting to feel unsure about the gift, and it’s not like he could actually wrap the thing. A part of him wanted to stop his friend and bring him to his gift but anxiety prickled under his skin at the idea, his tongue turning heavy in his mouth. He hesitated, and the opportunity slipped away.

He shut his eyes firmly, trying to get a grip.  _ I’ll bring it up later  _ Jack reasoned in his head,  _ when it’s more topical. Make it seem like it’s not a big deal… which it isn’t, but that way he probably won’t be expecting as much _ . Feeling satisfied with his new plan, he belatedly followed Gabe inside before the other could notice him fumbling.

“First of all,” He said with a huff, “corn  _ stalks _ . And for the last time, southern Indiana doesn’t even have a good corn yield. I don’t even think anyone in my family grows corn for animal feed. You know, for our  _ Animal farms _ .”

Gabe waved his hand dismissively. Jack knew that he was only doing it to get a rise out of him, but just like every other time, he couldn’t help but get a  _ little _ annoyed. One man can only hear so many corn jokes before they start to grate on his last good nerve.

Gabe’s apartment was best described as spartan. Jack was pretty sure that of all the graduates, Gabe had made the least amount of changes to the apartment since he had gotten it. He hadn’t added any furniture to his apartment that wasn’t already included when they got there, and while he had some exercise equipment, it was nothing beyond the basics. Not so much as a potted plant in the windowsill to keep things homey. As a result, the place seemed incredibly empty, with huge swaths of space unoccupied by anything and feeling like it needed something. Even his kitchen managed to seem a little boring. A blender and an egg timer could go a long way, but Gabe always shrugged off the idea, saying if he really wanted to use them, he could just borrow Jack’s.

The only thing that seemed to mark the apartment as anything close to  _ Gabe’s  _ aside from the plaque on the door, was the hidden stash of Gabe’s favorite shows and movies, almost entirely anime, not that anyone other than Jack even knew about that. Jack wasn’t even certain he’d seen the full extent of Gabe’s collection. It seemed like he was a little embarrassed by the fact he liked a few of them.

It was slightly endearing, really. 

Gabe flopped back down onto his couch, lounging, leaving no room for Jack to sit. Asshole. Jack instead leaned over the back of the couch, studying his friend’s face as he stared at the television. He had this look on his face. Same look he had whenever he was leading an op.

Jack tore his eyes away and towards the screen. It was Russia. More footage from the malfunctioning Omnium that was churning out Bastion units with no directives until they finally somehow got into civilization and caused a bloodbath. 

“Somethin’ happen while I was gone?” Jack asked hesitantly.

“Russia’s having problems containing the spread of the Omnics.” Gabe said distractedly, eyes still trained on the screen. “Bastions further back near the Omnium make an aerial approach too risky,” he cast a quick glance at Jack, rolling his eyes, “So they can’t just level it. ICBMs just get shot out of the sky as well. The Crusaders offered to give aid to the front lines, but you know Russia.”

Jack only grunted in reply. The Crusaders were supposedly Germany’s answer to the SEP initiative, or rather, the SEP initiative seemed to be the answer to Germany's Crusader program. You’d think power-armored knights with rocket powered hammers would have no place in modern military, but the success of the program spoke for itself.

“Jack,” Gabe said, a hand drifting up to scratch his beard, “It look like the Bastion units are in formation to you?”

Jack squinted at the screen. He had to admit there was definitely a pattern to their movements and while the shots of the Bastions were too short for him to say for sure… He shook his head.

“Probably just some basic programing in their system on how to work effectively with other units. They were supposed to be used in groups to begin with, right?” Gabe hummed in agreement, but he still had his game face on.

“Why?” Jack shifted closer, brow creasing.

“Nothing, just,” He hunched over, “Some of the upper bass seem tense ever since this thing started is all. I keep making formal inquiries for information, but they keep sending them back to me.”

“They might just not have the information to give. The whole thing probably won’t get sorted out until they can shut down the Omnium and check the black box, or whatever they have.”

“Yeah but,” Gabe made a frustrated sound, trailing off. Jack caught the way his fingers curled and twitched around his knee, like he was trying to stop himself from making a fist. 

“Do you think something’s up?” Jack asked quietly, trying not to sound like he was placating. In the time he’d known him, he’d found Gabe could be paranoid at times, but he tried to entertain the other’s worries with the same level of respect he’d amount to anyone else, if not more. He knew Gabe didn’t  _ want _ to be paranoid after all, but it seemed to be something that he just couldn’t help at times. 

Gabe shook his head, and jack could see him grinding his teeth in the tightness of his jaw. “The malfunctioning Omnium story just doesn’t sit right with me. A deactivated omnium that didn’t even produce bastion units located just 50 miles out of Moscow all of a sudden starts pumping out high profile military siege weapons? None of the Original scientists from the Omnica corporation have made any official statements, just PR jockeys trying to save their dying company. If this is such a bizarre, isolated and unheard of incident like they keep saying, why don’t we have any experts saying so?”

Jack quirked his head to the side. “What, you think someone's doing this on purpose? Directing the Omnics?”

Gabe stayed silent, instead he stared long and hard into Jack’s eyes, like he could find his answer in them somehow. Before Jack could make something of it, a sigh rolled through his body and shrugged before answering.

“All I know is we have eyes on the Omniums in the States, and the brass are all closed doors and whispers about it.” he rubbed a hand across his face, “If they were just monitoring them as a precaution, why not say so?”

“Well, some omniums are located near highly populated areas, they might just be trying to avoid a panic.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, because The CO of an entire team of soldiers with state secrets written into their DNA is a huge risk of information leak.”

“Fair enough,” Jack sighed, palming the back of his neck. “But not much we can really do about it right now.”

“Yeah…” Gabe sighed again, crossing his arms and glaring at the TV. Jack couldn’t help but roll his eyes a little, fond. He clapped a hand on the other’s shoulder.

“But hey, c’mon, let’s not worry about this shit today at least. Plenty of time to do it when it isn’t your birthday.”

Gabe gave him a weird look, like he wasn’t quite following the logic, but it soon faded, and with it the military rigid look he always seemed to try to keep up faded away, his arms falling back to his sides. “You know I’m not big on birthdays.” he said, shaking his head, but the slight twitch of a smile betrayed his nonchalant attitude.

_ Yes which is why my gift is a ridiculous and stupid idea. _ A part of him grumbled from the back of his mind. He ignored it. “Yeah well, I’m huge on them. Figured we could watch one of the old shows you’ve been trying to get me on. Maybe that old classic you told me about with the son of Satan trying to kill Satan?”

“Ao no Exorcist.”

“Yeah, that one. Or anything, really,” Jack shrugged, “it’s up to you. Least I could do for your birthday. I can make us something to eat later, too. Unless you’re dying for another frozen pizza.”

“... Alright.” Gabe said eventually, looking just a bit suspicious. “But if you’re watching this, you’re gonna have to read a few chapters of Manga. They went and made the anime way before there was enough of the source material so they just made up a bunch of bullshit for a filler ending. They fixed it by picking up on later seasons, but--” A rhythmic knock at the door cut him short, and his expression soured. He glanced uncertainly at Jack.

“Ugh. One sec.” Gabe shot up off the couch, his entire countenance shifting in an instant from Gabe to 2nd Lieutenant Gabriel Reyes, shoulders locked, eyes hard, posture perfect, and strode confidently to the door. Jack jumped over the couch and stole himself a seat the second Gabe was out of sight.

“Ah. Hello, Corporal Jadis. What do you need?” He could hear Gabe’s wooden tone as he answered the door, and allowed himself a small chuckle at the slight strain to it.

It’s not that Gabe  _ didn’t _ like Corporal Jadis, hell, he didn’t think anyone disliked her, but she could be a bit much to handle. Like a double shot of espresso in a world where coffee beans were made of pure sunshine.

“Hey Sarge,” He could picture the informal flick of her wrist salute she always gave Gabe. “Little birdie told me that it was your birthday.”

There was a silence. “Yes, it is. And It’s  _ Lieutenant _ now, corporal.”

“Pfft. In uniform, maybe, but you’ll always be Sarge to me. Enough about that, you didn’t tell  _ anyone _ about your birthday? Tut tut! Lucky you I always keep an ear to the ground. Surprise!”

There was a very long silence. Jack brought his hand to his mouth to cover his snickering. 

“That… isn’t necessary of you, Corporal.”

“What? Don’t tell me you don’t like Chocolate Frosting.”

“While the thought is appreciated, I--”

“Oh come on Reyes,” He could almost hear her roll her eyes. “Pull the rifle out your ass and take the cupcakes. You’re not exactly putting me out here. They’re just store bought.”

He could hear the crinkling of a plastic container. “Thank you, Corporal. However, don’t think that this will be enough to bribe me, you still need to work on your--”

“Yeah, yeah, discipline, focus, integrity,  _ aim _ , yadda yadda. Wouldn’t dream of it, Sarge.”

A sharp exhale from Gabe that was a cross between a sigh and a popped balloon “I see. Will that be all, Corporal?”

“Yes, Sarge,  _ that will be all _ .” She said in a poor imitation of Gabe’s voice, Jack snorted loud enough that he was sure Gabe heard him. If Jadis did, she ignored him. He heard the door click softly.

Maybe Jack should have been a little bit more concerned that the second Gabe wasn’t in private with him he changed like he was putting on a mask. It seemed like a long time before he met Jack he had come to a conclusion that he would be better off keeping people at arm’s length. It was possible to get past that, but Gabe’s trust was a helplessly fickle and fragile thing; quick to accuse and try to shut people out. It was like he was trying to get the drop on the other person before they had a chance to break what little trust he gave them. 

He had seen it with others, he had experienced it firsthand when they had first became friends, and he wasn’t quite sure how he managed to get past it, but one day all of the suspicion and accusations came to a halt with no particular reason as to why. He supposed he shouldn’t complain, everyone needed someone they could rely on during SEP. Gabe was no exception to that, and neither was he. Perhaps it was just the timing of their friendship that seemed to make him the exception.

He looked up to see Gabe holding a dozen mini cupcakes, unamused. Jack lifted up his hands.

“I had nothing to do with that, Sarge. I’m innocent, I swear.” Jack said behind a smile.

“Likely story.” Gabe grumbled, sitting back down on the couch, leaving enough room for Jack to keep his seat. He stared at the cupcakes for a few more seconds, unsure, before he flipped open the tin.

“No, really, wasn’t involved at all.” Jack swiped a cupcake from the tin before the other had a chance to swat his hand away. “She probably just remembered from last year. Or maybe she just has a thing for you.”

Gabe gave him a dirty look. “If anyone else comes to my door with a gift, it’s your head. And, no, she doesn’t.”

A small pickling in his gut told him that now would have been a golden opportunity to bring up his own present, but he shoved the feeling down, and fast. At this point, he was feeling a little at war with himself. He opted to lick the frosting off the cupcake.

“Oh come on Gabe, she could totally be into you.”

“Man,” He said, shaking his head as he pulled a cupcake from it’s wrapping. “You’re bad at this.”

“What?”

“I don’t have the right stuff for Jadis.”

“Wait, you…Oh. Uh, oh.” Jack felt his face flush slightly.

Gabe laughed, a sound somewhere between the rumble of a bowling ball going down an alley and the creaking of floorboards. Jack could feel his blush spread.

“Yeah, well congrats Gabe, you’ve got the best gaydar in all of the SEP.” Jack huffed, shoving the rest of the cupcake in his mouth. “Ask to get decorated for it.”

“I just use my eyes, Jack. Unlike you, Jadis isn’t exactly a closet case. Plus, I think she had mentioned a girlfriend before.” He shrugged flippantly. “Eyes  _ and _ ears. Crazy. Must have been one of my injections.”

Jack chewed his cupcake petulantly. Gabe had been the first person who learned that he was gay. Not because he came out, as much as Gabe had accidently bumped into him in the closet and he fell out in a fit of panic when he realized Gabe knew. It had been a very confusing and… enlightening day for Jack, complete with him trying to belatedly come out to Gabe, just to make it feel official. Which was completely ridiculous of him, and he couldn’t even get through it.

Gabe was still the only person who knew. Surprisingly, it never seemed to make things awkward between the two of them like he was worried it might. If anything, they had gotten much closer that day.

“Weren’t you gonna retrieve your satan anime from your stash?” Jack sighed, trying to change the subject since it had Gabe looking a little smug.

“Oh, Right!”

Jack ignored the pinpricks on his back, and the weight of his replacement gift in his pocket.

 

\-----

 

“Wait so… He didn’t kill Amaimon? Mephisto just put him in a clock?” He lowered the manga Gabe had shoved into his hands so he could ‘read as the author intended it to be’.

“Yeah, no. Rin shouldn’t be able to handle Amaimon at that point. You’ll see why later.” Gabe lounged lazily on the couch, small crumbs from the cupcakes freckling his hoodie, head hanging over the back of the couch.

“And they didn’t go repair his sword?” Jack raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Kurikara never chipped in the first place in this. Just forget about the whole sword chipping and getting it repaired.” He threw his hands up casually, looking somewhat annoyed, “It’s pretty contradictory to how his ‘friends’ treat him next arc, but  _ you _ wanted to watch the whole episode. Oh and, ignore that last bit with Konekomaru, just more anime original bullshit.”

“Fine, fine, you were right.” Jack closed the manga, “The book does it way better. Mephisto also comes off less of a…”

“Desperate lunatic?”

“I was going to say child endangering sociopath.” Gabe snorted, “So what, do we start the second season now?”

He shook his head. “Well, there’s a little of next episode that’s still canon, but if you want we could skip it if you don’t mind reading a little more.”

“Eh,” Jack scratched his head lightly, “If it’s only a little I should be able to figure it out from context. You said you like the second season better anyways, so might as well just start it.”

“Yeah, well, I was asking you.” He rolled his eyes. “But whatever.”

“It’s your birthday.”

“You’re really getting your milage out of that excuse, aren’t you?” Gabe commented mildly, fiddling with the remote, trying to skip ahead to the start of the next season, expression unreadable.

“An excuse?” Jack laughed lightly, “What do you mean?”

He shot Jack a weird look, like he wasn’t sure why he even had to explain. “It’s just a birthday, Jack. You don’t need to bend over backwards for me just because of it.”

“Gabe, c’mon,” Jack gave his friend a tired look, “It’s your birthday. Of course I’m going to try to make sure it’s a good one. Besides, I wouldn’t exactly call having to figure a little bit out from context bending over backwards.”

“Alright, fair enough.” Gabe sighed, Slowing down the video and pressing play.  “Just don’t see the point in making a big deal about it. Just another day, really, one where people feel obligated to give you a shitty present” He raised the empty cupcake tin  “Who really gives a shit”

“Uh, I do, Gabe.” Jack frowned shifting upright. “You certainly cared enough to give me that pig pillow for  _ my _ Birthday, so…”

“Yeah, well, that’s you.” Gabe explained, clarifying absolutely nothing. “It’s whatever. Now shut up, this is the episode Yukio actually starts to act cool.”

“No, hold on,” Jack raised a hand at the television as the episode began to play, but his eyes were squarely on Gabe. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means he stops acting like you are right now.”

“Gabe.”

“Man,” Gabe paused the video, his already severe face starting to look distinctly agitated “Why are you making such a big deal of this now? You didn’t do this last year.”

“Last year I was running a fever of 105 and your stomach was becoming one with the toilet bowl.” Jack crossed his arms. “Not a lot of room for me to try and make it the birthday you always dreamed of. If Birthdays aren’t a big deal then why’d you go and get me a present for mine then?”

“What, so that’s what this is all about?” Gabe raised a hand incredulously, “You think you need to make up for the fact we were too busy having our DNA rewrite itself for you to wish me a happy birthday?”

“Don’t dodge the question.” Jack pressed.

“Why is this such a big deal for you?” He ran his palm down his face. “My birthday’s never been a big deal, ever since I was a kid, why should it be a big deal now?”

“Just because you’ve never made it a big deal before-- Ugh.” Jack ran a hand through his hair, grabbing hold of a fistful in the back of his head, and closing his eyes. “Look, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to fuck up the mood,”

“Too late.” He heard Gabe mutter.

“ _ But _ , with my family, a birthday is something special. It’s easy for someone to lose sight of how much they mean to you to someone when you’re around them all the time. Birthdays are a golden opportunity to remind them.”

The thought of his present laid heavy on his mind. Maybe it had been a bad idea to go quite so over the top, but… He couldn’t say that the effort he put into it was anything less than he felt Gabe deserved. He knew that the other man hadn’t spoken to his family in years, of his own volition at that, and he knew that Gabe didn’t quite have anyone else that he seemed to trust nearly as much as he trusted Jack, now or ever, for that matter. It really shouldn’t surprise Jack that they didn’t see eye-to-eye on birthdays.

Gabe, to his credit, seemed to accept his answer, albeit unhappily.. Arms crossed, eyes hard and directed into a random corner of a room, posture slumped. His famed default sulking posture. Jack realized he probably shouldn’t have pressed the conversation, almost into an argument, if he was trying to show how much he cared.

Jack could feel his gut lurch with the desire to fix this. Whatever  _ this  _ was. Hell, maybe not even something that needed fixing, but he was still overcome with the need to show Gabe that he cared about him. A lot.

“Can we just go back to watching the damn show?” Gabe groused, back to fiddling with the remote.

The anxiety that had held him back snapped like a chain with a rusty link.

“Wait, There… There’s something I want to show you.” Jack said, somewhat stiffly, standing up and jerking his hand in the vague direction of his apartment.  “In my place.”

Gabe stared up at him, guarded, for just a few seconds before his arms uncrossed and he sighed out a quiet “Fine.” and rose to his feet, immediately shoving his hands in his pockets.

Jack nodded, half to himself, and half at Gabe, offering a slightly pallid smile, and started towards the door. Not bothering to check to see if Gabe was following behind him.

The walk, albeit, a technically very short one, felt painfully long, with the shuffling steps of Gabe at his back, still sulky, and the rebound of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t exactly try and play this off as a joke anymore, not with his little speech, that would just make him look and feel like the world champion asshole. He could feel his heart rising up in his chest as he stared at his own door.

He glanced back at Gabe, who’s sulky expression had changed to a more uncertain one, still not looking at Jack.

_ Well, _ Jack thought to himself,  _ at least it’ll be surprising. _ He opened the door, and proceeded to face the music, taking the few last steps into his living room, staring down his creation.

It was a rocking chair, but to call it  _ just _ a rocking chair failed to capture the spirit of the gift. Above all else, it was a monument to Gabe’s macabre aesthetic preferences as explained by the man himself him during a bad night at SEP, when they could do little but try and distract from the pain of their body rejecting a hackneyed attempt at playing god with idle chit-chat.

It was a  _ skeleton-themed  _ rocking chair.

The back was styled to look like a skeletal silhouette of a human torso and skull, hewn from mahogany. The arms were a skeletal forearm and hands, held up by two miniature skulls on a stick. The front legs were, unsurprisingly, legs, with their feet propped up on the rockers, which while simple, Jack had attempted to style at least somewhat gothic, and the back legs received the same treatment. The proportions were a little off from an actual human skeleton in places, having taken some liberties in the name of comfort so the chair would actually serve a purpose instead of being a decoration.The whole thing had been lacquered and shined until it was glossy, perhaps it wasn’t Jack’s alltime best work, he had been a little rusty from year having gone by without him using the tools on the farm that let him build the chair, but he could say he was proud of it… in a certain sense.

Unable to continue staring at his bizarre creation, he turned to face Gabe, who had shuffled in beside him and was now staring at the chair, looking… absolutely baffled, mouth agape.

He directed a lopsided smile at him in spite of the buzz of anxiety in his stomach that threatened to return the half-digested cupcakes to his mouth, fidgeting awkwardly in place. He had no idea what he should do with his hands.

“Happy birthday, Gabe.” Jack said with an uneven smile.

Gabe stared and Jack, expression unreadable, and his mouth  _ finally _ closing, but his eyebrows still looked like they were trying to escape his forehead. His hand covered his mouth and he shifted from side to side, turning his attention back to the chair. Jack’s smile turned slightly pained.

“Gotta admit,” Gabe said, dragging his hand down his face, nodding just slightly. “It’s a good trick. Some new sort of holo-tech?”

Jack leaned back. “What?”

“Usually you can see a flicker or something, or like a grainy texture, but this actually looks pretty real. Can’t even see where the projection’s coming from.”

Jack blinked. “Gabe it’s… not a holo. It’s real.”

Gabe’s head jerked to face him, uncertain and hesitant.

“It has mass and stuff too.” He nodded his head, gesturing towards the chair. “You can even touch it, if you want.”

Gabe continues to stare at him with that same, uncertain, hesitant expression for a few more seconds, before turning back to the chair and taking slow steps forward, like it was a wild animal that could spook at any second. His hand reached out and tentatively touched one of the arms, a gesture that slowly turned into him running his fingers up the arms to the back of the chair. Jack swallowed thickly.

“Where… did you find this?” Gabe asked, his voice teetering on a whisper that was more breath than words.

“Well, I didn’t actually  _ find _ it anywhere.” Jack breathed out a shaky laugh. “I uh, well, sort of… made it.”

Gabe’s head snapped around to stare at him. Jack felt himself stiffen. Gabe briefly looked back to the chair only to turn his head right back to face Jack, his mouth now hanging open just a bit.

“You built this?” he turned back to Jack’s creation, his hands starting to trace over more of the chair, inspecting it almost. 

“Uh, yeah.” Jack’s hand went up to rub at the back of his neck, the other shoved firmly in his pocket. He found himself staring at the chair. “When I said I was visiting my grandma, well, I did, but she wasn’t  _ actually _ sick. I needed to use the tools my dad keeps back at the farm for when  _ he  _ makes furniture and stuff, and besides I’m sure no one here would want me keeping them up at night with the sound of a power sander or something. Plus I did kinda want this to be a surprise, so I couldn’t just tell you and my family’s friends with the guy who set me up with all the mahogany I needed to build it, so there really wasn’t any other way to go about it. I figured that your quarters are so empty that you could use a little something to give the place a little character, and I was always pretty good at building chairs, I actually built a rocking chair for my grandma too on her 87th birthday when I was younger, and--”

Jack bit his tongue, realizing he was babbling. Gabe’s attention kept flicking briefly to Jack before he went to study another part of the chair. Jack took a deep breath, trying to calm the still buzzing storm of anxiety in his gut.

“So, yeah, I built it.” He swallowed. “What do you think?”

Gabe’s head twitched, like he had briefly forgotten jack was in the room. He turned to face Jack, his mouth still hanging open for a few more seconds, before the corners of his mouth tilted up just a bit and a single, breathy laugh hiccuped out of him.

“It’s,  ha,  _ wow _ . I…” Gabe shook his head, turning back to the chair. “It’s incredible, it’s the-- It’s the best fucking thing I’ve seen all month, wait, no, since my promotion, and--” His head shot back to face jack, his eyes a little wild, but still smiling, almost manic-looking, “You _ built this? _ ”

Jack could feel the tangle of anxiety in his chest unwind, and his smile settled into something more honest and bashful. He could feel warmth spreading from just his face down into his chest, and he nodded. Gabe’s only response was to cough out another breathless laugh, and then returned to marveling at the chair. Jack couldn’t quite place his reaction other than what seemed to be surprised in a good way. He allowed the other man a few more moments, before an impatient itch started to dig into him.

“Well, c’mon Gabe, it’s a chair, not a showpiece,” he was unable to suppress some laughter in his voice as well. “Sit!”

Gabe gave him a quick deer-in-the-headlights look, before giving the chair one more quick onceover, before turning to sit. He sat down on it slowly, tentatively, almost like he wasn’t sure if it would break, or perhaps like he was trying to savor the moment which only made Jack roll his eyes. He’d tested the thing himself and practically triple checked every joint before deciding it was a job well done.

When Gabe finally sat down, he leaned up against the back of the chair, hands experimentally sliding up the arms to the end until his fingers curved around the skeletal hands at the end, and gave the chair an experimental rock. His manic expression slowly quelled into a more subdued one and his shoulders unwound as he sunk back into the chair. For once, Gabe’s face had lost it’s edge, in fact, he looked positively  _ civilian _ . Civilian was never a word Jack had associated with Gabe in the time they had known each-other. When they had first met Gabe had already spent 5 years in the service, and it seemed so ingrained into the other’s every action he would have sworn he was JROTC if he didn’t know any better.

Jack found he quite liked the new look.

 

\------

 

The morning after, Jack was trying his best not to feel a little disappointed.

The remainder of Gabe’s birthday had gone well after he had unveiled his gift. Gabe had given him his starstruck thanks for the gift and they moved the chair into Gabe’s quarters. The rest of the day had been spent watching more episodes of Ao no Exorcist, with Jack sitting alone on the couch, and the warm rock of the chair working in tandem with the show’s soundtrack. Jack found himself pretty engrossed by the second season, and in the end let Gabe talk him into just throwing a frozen pizza in the oven.

It was comfortable. And it remained that way up until Jack had left for the night with a slightly dazed goodbye from Gabe.

However, Jack wished there could have been a little something more. He ran a hand through his hair, like he was trying to comb the thoughts out of his head. Maybe he was just spoiled from his relatives always making a big deal out of getting gifts, always giving him a kiss on the cheek, and singing praises about how  _ thoughtful  _ the gift was.

Guilt seeped through his chest, crawling about, but never quite settling down to fester as he made himself a lazy, late saturday breakfast. Just cereal today, he wasn’t quite in the right mood to actually try and cook something, so raisin bran it was.

He set his bowl down at the small dining table, and flicked the television across the room before sitting down. He stared down at his cereal, and leaned back far in his chair.

“C’mon Jack,” He sighed to himself, “not about you.”

_ A hug would have been nice though.  _ His all too traitorous mind supplied.

He scowled at himself, and shoved a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. Like hell Gabe would give him a hug. Hell, Jack wasn’t even a hug type of guy, but the very idea of getting a little hug of affection from Gabe made something warm flutter in his gut.

Besides, it’s not like Jack hadn’t walked away with anything. There was the way Gabe looked when he sat down in the chair, and ever so slightly afterwards that made him feel so… civilian.

Jack propped his head up on the table with an arm, cereal still in his mouth pressing into where his hand met his cheek, though not uncomfortable enough to dissuade him. He prodded at the bowl with his spoon halfheartedly.

Jack didn’t know what to make of the change in presentation. He wouldn’t even be able to accurately describe how the civilian look differed from his regular look without resorting to generalizations and vague impressions. But, for some reason, it felt special. It wasn’t quite a gesture of gratitude, but it was somehow intimate without really trying to be.

Jack realized he had started to smile fondly at his cereal. 

God, he was a sap. He shoved another spoonful of cereal in his mouth before he could break out into a full blown grin at his bowl.

Someone knocked at the door, quick and urgent. Jack blinked, and slowly got to his feet, raising an eyebrow. He knew there was nothing on the itinerary until monday morning when they were due to another good publicity mission.

He went to the door, pulled it open, and stared.

It was Gabe. He looked a little stiff and out of breath, like he had just been running staring back at Jack with an equally surprised expression on his face. His hood was up and pulled low to his face, like he was trying to hide. There were bags under his eyes, and his cheeks seemed flushed a shade darker than usual. 

He was also holding a piglet in his hands. No more than 4 weeks old, certainly.

Jack stared at the piglet, and the back at Gabe. He tried to say something, but all the came out was a small choking noise from the back of his throat. He looked back down at the piglet, and then back to Gabe once more. His hand fell off the door’s handle.

Gabe took in a deep breath, his eyes starting to look like he was staring down a train that was barreling straight towards him. Quickly, he tucked his hands under the piglet’s front legs, and held it out to Jack, his mouth thinning into a straight line. The piglet chuffed and started to squeal, wriggling. Jack stared.

Only later would Jack find out that  _ this _ , of all things, was Gabe’s hastily thought out attempt to reciprocate Jack’s gesture with a gift of his own. He had spent all night locating, driving to, and buying a young piglet from the nearest seller he could find on google, like some sort of puppy, all because Jack had told him that pigs were his favorite animal to tend to on the farm. It was an incredibly earnest gesture, if not awkward and poorly planned.

But in the moment, Jack could only glare at the other man.

“Gabe, what the hell,” He reached out to snatch the piglet away, cradling it close to his chest, giving it’s leg’s support and petting it soothingly, “You can’t just hold a piglet out like that, it makes ‘em feel like they’re gonna fall!”

Gabe was giving him his best impression of a deer in the headlights. Jack huffed, staring down at the piglet, who had tilted her head slightly, one brown eye staring up at Jack. He was immediately crushed by a wave of nostalgia. His expression softened, and he turned back to Gabe, who was starting to look distinctly embarrassed, and was probably planning his escape routes right this moment.

Jack sighed, “Alright, come on in,” He backed off out of the doorway, and nodded towards his quarters. “How in the hell did you get a piglet in, what, 12 hours?”

Gabe relaxed slightly, a hand moving up to rub at the nape of his neck. He flipped his hood down. “Uh, Well…”

Jack noticed that, once again, it felt like he was staring at a civilian. He felt like he could get used to that look.

**Author's Note:**

> Please help Jack, he's so gay it brings him physical pain.
> 
> I feel like there's a lot I should explain here. The interpretation of Gabe that I use is basically one my friend, Apologija (who also did the editing because she's gr8), crafted. He's got a lot of issues that make him the way he is, but it's a version of him I haven't quite seen anyone else do anything close to. Also the weeaboo thing is like... the best headcanon. He used to cosplay and that's how he learned costume design. It's literally the greatest fucking thing, and I want more of it.
> 
> Jack's actions here make a lot more sense if you read my other fic in this series, Taciturn. He's not all that used to bearing his emotions honestly, but he's trying.
> 
> Let me know what you think! I have a few other fic ideas for this series floating around for various snapshots on their lives.


End file.
